Silence

Oakley Farrell stopped talking at the age of 5 and has remained in her own little world since. Her mum is desperate to find out what is wrong with her daughter, but does she really want to know? Oakley's best friend, Cole has stuck by her. Their friendship is easy but as they start to become closer she is faced with a new set of issues to deal with.

For eleven years, Oakley Farrell has been silent. At the age of five, she stopped talking,and no one seems to know why. Refusing to communicate beyond a few physical actions, Oakley remains in her own little world.

Bullied at school, she has just one friend, Cole Benson. Cole stands by her refusing to believe that she is not perfect the way she is. Over the years, they have developed their own version of a normal friendship. However, will it still work as they start to grow even closer?

When Oakley is forced to face someone from her past, can she hold her secret in any longer?

Reviews

Review by:
Rich Bullock
on Feb. 4, 2019 :
As others have said far better, this is a very good book and well worth the read. The subject of abuse is treated with appropriate weight, but without going into uncomfortable detail. The reader gets the point and feels the impact on Oakley and the other characters. Very well done.

However, I did notice increasing numbers of typos, especially in the last half of the book. It's like the proof reader was rushing to get to the end. Missing words, she instead of he, sentences slightly jumbled that required a couple of passes to figure out their meaning. I can put up with a lot of these, but it got to the point in this book where it was irritating. And I had to ask, why would an author go to the trouble of writing a great book, then leave it messy with easily fixed errors? Too bad the author doesn't take another pass through this and clean it up some.

(review of free book)

Review by:
Max Stravagar
on Jan. 29, 2019 :
Fantastic, this book will have you take a second look at your own life, well worth the read.

(review of free book)

Review by:
Lizann Thompson
on Dec. 8, 2018 :
Amazing book. Had my stomach in knots all the way through. I'm usually sensitive to these kinds of topics but this book was definitely worth the read. The whole way through the book I kept wondering "when is she going to speak up, she HAS to tell someone" it's incredibly nerve wracking, which is what made it a brilliant book. I've also learned a lot from your style of writing, there were no points where i felt there was too much description/ that it was too "wordy" and you'd think that it would be, considering that she's mute. Will definitely be using what I've learned from you in my next book. So thank you for teaching me through your work.

Review by:
mayna saunders
on Sep. 23, 2015 :
I had this book sitting in my library for a while and just kept skimming past it, I'm glad I finally read it. This book was intense, the story and the characters are so captivating. I'm glad that the story continues on I was beginning to get the feeling that this book was going to end in heartache. I will be reading the rest of this series.

Review by:
Leanne Miranda
on Feb. 18, 2015 :
I loved this book. Cole and Oakley were fabulous and I loved the story line. Great work Tasha!

(review of free book)

Review by:
princess kitten
on Feb. 10, 2015 :
I discovered this book on accident. While I love reading I'm not one for romances. But I would have gladly read this book knowing it was romance after the first few chapters. I can agree with a few bad comments on the wording and sentences but otherwise I give a A+ I love this book. And The series. I am so glad it was wrote. and I give 10 stars!

(review of free book)

Review by:
Kim Deister
on Feb. 12, 2014 :
This book has gotten a lot of mixed reviews, but the subject matter is so different from a lot of contemporary YA fiction of the non-paranormal genre that I was intrigued. Sometimes these intense subjects can be glossed over or sanitized for the YA book, so I was interested to see how that was going to play out in this book.

The underlying "secret" of this book is a dark subject and one that was probably as tough to write as it was to read without getting extremely emotionally invested in the main character. Oakley is clearly a girl who is haunted by something in her past, but we don't know what that was for much of the book. The hints were subtle and that made the reveal that much more shocking and upsetting. An interesting twist to this story was the fact that Oakley doesn't speak. At all. For that matter, she has virtually no communication with anyone of any kind. Her isolation was so complete that, although she had a cell phone for texting, she never used it. Every night, Cole texted her and she always answered him... but never sent them. I didn't understand why that was until the end, which I won't share for fear of spoilers. That isolation made me wonder how the story could possibly progress well with a character who had no verbal communication. How can she maintain friendships and relationships, trapped in herself the way she was? The answer was simple. She couldn't, not really, outside of her brother and her best friend Cole. It was tragic, her isolation.

There is romance in this book, and it is touching and sweet, but I think that the rest of it was more of the central focus of the book. And I liked that. I liked that there was much more to the story than teenage romance and angst.

This is a story that is, in my opinion, character-driven. There were characters I loved and there were others that I hated with a passion. Like in real life, there were points at which I hated/loved a particular character and then later in the story, my feelings would flip. Oakley's parents are a perfect example of this. As a mom, I felt like their hands off approach was a bit unbelievable. But as the story progresses and you learn ore there are questions that get answered and make you understand.

Things to love about Silence...

--The subject matter. Not that one can truly "like" the subject matter, but I liked how it was handled throughout the story.
--Knowing Oakley. As I said, I wondered how Oakley would be as a well-rounded character without communication and I was truly impressed with how much of a non-issue that turned out to be.
--The relationships and characters. Whether you loved them, or hated them, they evoked a response and that is important.

Things I wanted more or less of...

--More Cole. Technically, the chapters of this book are done in POV-style, chapters for Oakley and chapters for Cole. But Cole's POV doesn't come into play until Chapter 11, more than halfway through the book.

Some quotastic goodness...

--Silence consumed my whole life ; it suppressed things I could never express. My silence was responsible for my family’s happiness. Silence was my prison (1).
--We couldn’t be together. I would never be good enough for him. He was perfect , and I was broken (18).
--I loved her so much. More than anything in the world. Enough to let her go (211).

My recommendation: This was a moving story that I think is more than worth a read!

Review by:
Jackie Herrera
on Dec. 14, 2013 :
I honestly completely love this book so much!
I discovered it on wattpad years ago before it was published and broken silence was still in the making. I am so glad natasha has gotten this opportunity !!! I read both books again in the matter of two days because their just that amazing

(review of free book)

Review by:
Candice Chandler
on July 8, 2013 :
Fantastic book loved it couldn't put it down. Great author :)

(reviewed 45 days after purchase)

Review by:
ann kavanagh
on June 23, 2013 :
A good book and for a change set in england

(reviewed 29 days after purchase)

Review by:
gigi freeman
on June 20, 2013 :
This is such a powerful, well written book. Once you pick it up you won't want to put it down. Finished both books with in three days. Seriously addicting!

(reviewed 27 days after purchase)

Review by:
Tania Gallant
on June 20, 2013 :
Really good! Amazing! Can't take it down until I finished it!

(reviewed 26 days after purchase)

Review by:
Carla Macias
on June 15, 2013 :
If you enjoy reading this is a really good book you won't be disappointed.

(reviewed 22 days after purchase)

Review by:
Sonnia Briones
on June 15, 2013 :
Amazing.... The best book I have ever read.